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British ethics group has launched a debate on the ethical dilemmas posed by new
technologies that tap into the brain and could bring super-human strength,
highly enhanced concentration or thought-controlled weaponry.
With the prospect of future conflicts between
armies controlling weapons with their minds, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics
launched a consultation on Thursday to consider the risks of blurring the lines
between humans and machines.
"Intervening in the brain has always
raised both hopes and fears in equal measure. Hopes of curing terrible
diseases, and fears about the consequences of trying to enhance human
capability beyond what is normally possible," said Thomas Baldwin, a
professor of philosophy at Britain's York University who is leading the study.
"These challenge us to think carefully
about fundamental questions to do with the brain: What makes us human? What
makes us an individual? And how and why do we think and behave in the way we
do?."
The Council, an independent body which looks
at ethical issues raised by new developments in biology and medicine, wants to
focus on three main areas of neurotechnologies that change the brain:
brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), neurostimulation techniques such as deep
brain stimulation (DBS) or transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and neural
stem cell therapy.
These technologies are already at various
stages of development for use in the treatment of medical conditions including
Parkinson's disease, depression and stroke, and experts think they could bring
significant benefits, especially for patients with severe brain disease or
damage.
GROWING FAST
But they also have huge potential outside the
health context. In military applications, BCIs are being used to develop
weapons or vehicles controlled remotely by brain signals, and there is big
commercial scope in the gaming industry with the development of computer games
controlled by people's thoughts.
Speaking at a briefing to launch the
consultation, Baldwin said the estimated total global market for all
neurotechnologies - including pharmaceuticals for the treatment of brain
disorders - is around $150 billion.
"Setting pharmaceuticals aside, the value
of the market for the devices and technologies we are dealing with is something
in the region of $8 billion, and growing fast," he said.
Kevin Warwick, a professor of Cybernetics at
the University of Reading and a supporter of more neurotechnology research,
said some experimental brain technologies had great potential in medicine.
"From the brain signals, a brain computer
interface could translate a person's desire to move ... and then use those
signals to operate a wheelchair or other piece of technology," he said.
"For someone who has locked-in syndrome, for example, and cannot
communicate, a BCI could be life-changing."
But he and Baldwin also stressed there are
concerns about safety of some experimental techniques that involve implants in
the brain, and about the ethics of using such technology in other medicine and
other fields.
"If brain-computer interfaces are used to
control military aircraft or weapons from far away, who takes ultimate
responsibility for the actions? Could this be blurring the line between man and
machine?" Baldwin said.
The ethics council's consultation is at
www.nuffieldbioethics.org/neurotechnology. The deadline for responses is April
23 and it expects to publish a report with recommendations in 2013.
Reuters
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